[News] Haiti - Speech By Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, September 30

[Anti-Imperialist News]

/Surrounded by thousands of supporters, including many who had walked 
miles to be there, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide spoke outside 
his home on September 30th to mark the 24th anniversary of the bloody 
coup d’etat in 1991. It was his first public speech since his return 
from exile in March 2011.  Dr. Maryse Narcisse, the Fanmi Lavalas 
candidate for president, stood side by side with him as he spoke.

President Aristide’s remarks take place in the context of mass 
demonstrations calling for the annulment of the August 9th elections, 
which were characterized by intimidation, violence and fraud carried out 
by the government of President Michel Martelly and his allies.

President Aristide called for an end to the suppression of voting rights 
in Haiti, and for full support for Dr. Narcisse in the upcoming 
presidential elections.

We are honored to present his speech, both in Kreyol and in an 
unofficial English translation by Haiti Action Committee. We would point 
out to our readers that the English version does not, in any way, do 
justice to the nuance, humor and beautiful imagery of President 
Aristide’s speech in Kreyol, the language of Haiti’s people./


*A Speech By Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Delivered on September 30, 2015*

Sisters and Brothers,
You who live here or live abroad, I am happy to greet you in the spirit 
of One Love. In the shadow of our Ancestors, allow me to give each of 
you a big fraternal accolade and an embrace for the children and the 
youth of the country who hold a special place in my heart.

With much respect, I bow in remembrance of all the victims of the 
September 30, 1991 /coup/ /d'etat/. Their bodies have fallen but they 
will remain alive in our spirit. The sweat and blood of our heroes 
should not be shed in vain.

In memory of all Haitians who sacrificed their lives for the liberation 
of Haiti, let us look at the root of the word Haiti. /Hai/ means no, do 
not. /Tii/ means obey in the Swahili language. Haiti or Haitii means do 
not obey.

Long ago, slaves were always saying “Do not obey the colonists.” Today 
we say “Do not obey people who have no respect for human rights. Haitii! 
Do not obey the mentally enslaved involved in electoral /coup d'etat/. 
Do not obey the mentally enslaved who refuse to accept the vote of the 
people. Every person is a human being. The vote of each person must be 
counted. Period.”

My Sisters and My Brothers,
During these three years of silence, I always listened to your voices. 
When hard times made you feverish, my body ached also. When you thirsted 
to hear a clear position from me, I felt that too.

Even though since May 19, 2015, /Minouche/ [Mildred Aristide] had 
already told you the candidate I will choose for the post of President 
of the Country; even though you have walked the streets with her, arm in 
arm, to demand the annulment of the electoral /coup d'etat/ of August 9, 
I feel that you would like to hear me say it in my own voice.

Thank you for the trust that you have in me; this is exactly why I 
prayed, I thought a lot before reaching this decision. This decision is 
not steeped in naïveté because even small minds that have not undergone 
mental decolonization, already see that officials have chosen to conduct 
a selection, and not an election.

In the hope that this truth will not hurt or offend these officials who 
are our brothers and sisters too, this is what I continue to observe: 
Analysis of the electoral /coup d'etat/ of August 9, 2015 shows symptoms 
of an illness called unilateral spatial neglect. This means that 
patients with this illness see only one side of reality.

For example, when these patients dress themselves, they dress one side 
of their body without seeing that the other side has no clothes. When 
they eat from a plate, they eat only half the food that is there, 
without realizing that have not eaten the other half of the meal. This 
illness appears strange but that is the way that it manifests itself 
because the problem is in a part of the brain called the parietal lobe.

Those responsible for the electoral/coup d'etat/ of August 9, 2015 act 
the same way as those patients who see only one side of reality. On one 
side they see the ballots that assault weapons want to impose, but do 
not see that on the other side is the majority of the Haitian people 
demanding that their right to vote in free elections be respected. Every 
person is a human being. So the vote of each and every one must be 
counted. Period.

Analysis of the electoral /coup d'etat/ of August 9, 2015 shows a second 
symptom; it shows a symptom exhibited by patients who are anosognosic. 
This means patients who refuse to accept that they are ill. In this 
case, the solution is first mobilization. Mobilization, all of us who do 
not want the country to fall into an unparalleled political tornado and 
earthquake.

You who for the past 11 years have been walking an arduous rocky road, 
victims of insecurity, abuse, hunger, unemployment, forced to find a way 
in a blackout of misery. We who suffer with all Haitians who are the 
victims of repatriation, citizens coming from the Dominican Republic, 
let us come together to prevent a bad situation from getting worse.

Professionals in all fields lawyers, engineers, agronomists, nurses, 
doctors, business people, peasants, officials, teachers who have been 
struggling in the fog of despair for the past 11 years to make ends 
meet, let us come together to prevent a bad situation from getting worse.

Young people everywhere in the provinces and cities, in the universities 
as well as in community organizations and working class neighborhoods, 
let us mobilize to stop exclusion. We are the majority. Conditions must 
be good for all of us.

As I told you on May 9, 2013, remember! One jaw by itself cannot chew 
food. Each one needs the other. Respect to all of you, scholars as well 
as the illiterate. Illiterate does not mean unintelligent. Rich as well 
as poor, we need to come to an understanding. After 11 years, we must 
re-stitch the flag of unity.

Hand in hand with all Haitians who live abroad and thirst to come back 
home, let us create the conditions for the participation of all people 
of honesty, people of principle, all people who are not involved in 
politics but who understand that if we do not safeguard our dignity, we 
will lose our dignity.

My Sisters, My Brothers,
Our country is gravely ill and to prevent a worsening sad fate, we must 
mobilize against a /coup/ /d'etat/ until we enter the National Palace, 
democratically, with Dr. Maryse Narcisse as President of the country.

Voting for Dr. Maryse and all the Fanmi Lavalas candidates, Bò Tab la, 
number 54, is to take up a huge challenge because there is conspiracy 
that is entwined with a vast amount of money.

However! Yes, however! By word of mouth one telling the other 
“Conspiracy entwined with the power of money can be undone with the 
power of our dignity.”

By word of mouth, one telling the other “It is not money, it is dignity. 
If we do not safeguard our dignity, we will lose our dignity”.
Thank you.

Dr. Jean-Bertrand Aristide
30 Septanm 2015, Taba

<https://www.facebook.com/jeanevens.victor/videos/1040923602598631/>

<https://www.facebook.com/narcisse.maryse/videos/vb.848402941871749/1043666202345421/?type=2&theater> 



The above is an unofficial translation by the Haiti Action Committee of 
a speech by former President Aristide on the occasion of the 24th 
anniversary of the bloody coup d'etat of September 30th, 1991.

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